


Born Unto A Night Of Fire

by Lyoung_50



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Alec Lightwood the Reluctant Legendary Warlock, Bear!Jace, Blood Magic, Bounty Hunter Alec, Clandestine Operations, Demons, Draconic Nephilim Warlocks Are A Thing Now, Draconic Warlock Alec Lightwood, M/M, The Clave, Warlock!Alec, gratuitous use of sarcasm
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-19
Updated: 2019-08-14
Packaged: 2020-03-07 16:35:35
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,866
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18877000
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lyoung_50/pseuds/Lyoung_50
Summary: Alec Lightwood had been running clandestine operations for The Clave for as long as he could remember. As a draconic warlock with enough Nephilim blood to make him dangerous, they refused to allow him to be a Shadowhunter but they also wouldn't let him live his life out from under their thumb. With his sister, Isabelle, living among the ranks of the Shadowhunters he has always been willing to do whatever he needed to keep her safe.When he's sent on a mission to bring in notorious warlock Magnus Bane, Alec finds out that he has a lot to learn about what it means to be a warlock, what it means to be himself and what it means to do anything for family.Forced with the decision to turn Magnus over to the harsh hand of The Clave or run away from the only semblance of purpose that he's ever known, Alec is forced to choose between remaining the same or becoming who he's always been meant to be.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [consulalexander](https://archiveofourown.org/users/consulalexander/gifts).



The clearing was almost deathly quiet save for the whisper of wind through the browning leaves. The end of October was fast approaching, but the oppressive heat of the Louisiana night still clung to Alec’s skin like a glove as he approached the circle of stones. 

“Honestly, it was three-hundred years ago, you’re going to have to get over it at some point.” He groused, waving a dismissive hand toward the massive form lumbering behind him in the dark. 

_“Three-hundred years is the blink of an eye for an immortal being, you should know that better than anyone.”_ The deep voice echoed in his head and he couldn’t contain the sarcastic eye roll in response. 

“I lose one bet with a warlock and you’re never going to let me live it down. You’re being a bit dramatic, Jace.” Alec knelt in front of the stones, setting a small stone bowl on them and squinting in the dark to see where he was laying out a few more items. 

_“You got me turned into this. Forever. Forgive me for being a little hung up on the fact.”_ Alec huffed irritably and snapped his fingers, a webbing of green sparks shooting from his fingertips to form a ball of light that illuminated the clearing so he could see what he was doing more clearly. 

“There are worse things to be turned into. Come on, we’ve got to hurry before the moon is gone. Make yourself useful.” The massive grizzly behind him grunted and nudged a few more things toward Alec with his snout. 

He dipped a finger into the stone ball and when he withdrew it it was coated in thick, red liquid. Setting to work he drew symbols from memory across the stones with practiced ease. 

_“Tell me again why we’re doing this?”_ Jace questioned, plopping down to sit on his rump with one massive paw scratching at his stomach. 

“Because I picked up a bounty at the little alehouse that we found a few days back and I need information. This is the fastest way to get it, meaning it’s the fastest way to get paid. We get paid and I keep you fed with quality fish. Still want to question it, big guy?” He questioned, one dark brow quirking up toward his hairline as he fixed his ethereal blue gaze on Jace. The bear blinked slowly at him a few times before shaking his head. “That’s what I thought. Now, hold onto your hat, this could get...interesting.” 

Alec’s voice deepened as he spoke a few chants, his hands moving in a blur of fiery green streaks over the blood-soaked stones. It only took a few moments for the stones to begin putting off acrid blue smoke and for a hulking shape to form behind the smoke and shadows. 

“Are all the theatrics really necessary?” Alec coughed, waving his hand at the smoke. “You can’t just allow yourself to be summoned like a normal demon?” 

“Don’t question me, Nephilim.” The voice that answered was more of a snarl than actual spoken words. Alec gave the shape an affronted scoff. 

“Hey. Don’t bring the misfortune of my bearing into this. It’s not as if I chose that any more than this.” He jabbed a finger toward the red dragon scales peeking out from under his shirt collar where they arched over his neck. “I brought you here to answer my questions not to throw shots at my lineage.” 

“And what questions could one of the angel’s children have for someone like me? Hmm?” The demon in front of him came into view finally, breaking through the smoke to grin at him with dagger-like teeth and a flickering forked tongue. 

“Tell me where I can find this man.” Alec held up a piece of parchment with a portrait sketch onto it in charcoal. The demon eyed it curiously before answering slowly and cautiously. 

“Now what, pray tell, do you want with him? This isn’t usually the sort of company that warlocks keep.” 

“He’s got a price on his head. I’m looking to collect. That’s all.” The demon’s laugh was wet and bubbling in his throat. 

“Business is slow, eh? Well, that man can be found at the public house a few towns over. He spends most of his nights supplying cheap women with cheaper drinks.” Alec wrinkled his nose in disgust. 

“Sounds like a real winner. I’ll feel much less guilty when I separate his head from his body.” He knelt in front of the rocks again, flicking a shining silver knife open when he pulled it from his boot. 

“Be careful, Nephilim. He may not be exactly what he seems.” The demon hissed as Alec scratched at the blood on the stone. 

“I think I’ll be able to handle it. Thanks.” He grumbled, scratching the stone until one of the runes was broken, sending the demon screeching into a plume of smoke and ash. “Well. You heard the creepy monster. To the public house it is.” He waved a ringed hand toward the edge of the clearing and motioned for Jace to start toward the trees. “We’ve got a man to see about a bounty.” 

************************* 

The public house was smaller than Alec had been expecting and the roof looked like it was seconds from crumbling in on itself. 

“Well, isn’t this…quaint.” He groused, shifting the bag on his shoulder to hitch it higher before starting up the wooden stairs. Behind him he heard the wood creak and he turned to see Jace’s large paw on the step. “Uh, no offense, but I don’t think that they’re going to allow bears inside.” 

_“What am I supposed to do?”_ The voice in his head was accompanied by a disgruntled rumble from the bear’s chest. 

“I don’t know. Keep guard. This could get interesting, make sure that no one else comes inside.” Alec shrugged one shoulder. Jace eyed him wearily before flopping onto his rump with a plum of dust lifting around him. 

_“I can’t have your back if I can’t come inside. So, don’t do anything stupid. Okay?”_

“I’m always extremely careful. I’m just going to go find this guy and grab him so we can get our bounty. Nice and easy.” Jace’s large brown eyes rolled and he grunted. Alec took that as agreement, however reluctant, and headed inside without any more hesitation. 

For the most part the bar was empty save for a few women that were fawning over the men sitting at the various table. Alec scanned the room a few times before he settled on his mark, his eyes narrowing. 

He was sitting at the bar, his long hair pulled back into a tight ponytail and he was dressed in extravagant clothes made of silk, if Alec had to chance a guess. He strode across the creaking floor in seven steps and tapped the man on the shoulder. When he turned to face Alec, he had a wide smile across his face that was framed with a well-kept goatee. 

“Well, hello there. I haven’t seen you in here before. Are you new? Andrew didn’t tell me that he was getting new stock in, but my-my he must have taken my advice about upgrading. You are a vision.” The blonde man behind the bar eyed Alec with something that looked like barely veiled jealousy that Alec couldn’t be bothered to acknowledge. That must have been the aforementioned Andrew. He fought back a cringe when the man trailed a hand down his arm, silently thanking every power he could think of that he had kept his sleeves rolled down. 

The last thing he needed was this guy’s hands finding bare skin. 

“I’m not ‘stock’.” Alec reached into his pocket and dug out the parchment with the man’s likeness on it and held it out at arm’s length. “Lorenzo Rey, I am taking you in under custody of the Clave. Come silently and I won’t have to use force.” Alec sent up another pray that he was going to get to use force. 

“Oh, come now. Surely there’s been a misunderstanding. What on earth could the Clave want with me?” Lorenzo stammered, slowly getting to his feet as if he thought that Alec couldn’t see him starting to shuffle toward the back door. He let out a quiet sigh and shifted his shoulders to loosen the muscles in preparation. 

“You’re wanted in connection to several cases of illegal spell ingredient trade, and several cases of mystical creature trafficking.” Alec paused, mentally going through the list on the wanted poster in his head before hastily tacking on, “And one particularly traumatizing case of public indecency.” 

“I can explain those…” Lorenzo held his hands up in front of him to mimic a gesture of surrender, but Alec knew better. He’d been at this long enough to know when someone thought they had the drop on him. They were rarely correct. 

Lorenzo’s hands waved in a fluid motion and yellow sparks started to come from his fingertips, but Alec was faster. 

Alec’s right hand arched behind him with a whip of green fire flowing from his fingers with the graceful power of a crashing wave and he brought his hand forward forcefully. The whip crackled and sparked as it soared through the air until it found its target and wound tightly around Lorenzo, pinning his arms to his sides and winding around him until it curled around his neck, silencing the whimpered apologies. 

Alec’s blue eyes were glowing with righteous fury and the blood red dragon scales curving out from under his shirt were luminescent with the glow of burning embers just below them. The air felt as though it had been sucked out of the public house and all of the patrons had fallen silent. Those that had not immediately fled were staring in confused horror. It was only at the whimpered “what is that” that Alec realized that it wasn’t his magic that had startled them all. 

He caught his reflection in the dirt covered mirror behind the bar and sucked a breath through his bared teeth. His massive black wings were arched high over his head, the feathers spread with his green magic pulsing between them like an electric current. The appendages were so hulking that they had curled forward to miss hitting the ceiling and the walls. 

“You really are something special, aren’t you?” Lorenzo breathed out, his eyes wide with both fear and admiration. 

With a roll of his shoulders he retracted the wings, shielding them back under the glamour that he’d spent his entire life perfecting and, with a snap of the coiled whip, Lorenzo jerked and fell unconscious to the floor. 

Alec glanced around the room briefly, his eyes still crackling and burning with holy fire as he tracked the movements of the other patrons. He bent easily, scooping Lorenzo over his shoulder and headed toward the doors, flicking a coin at the bar as he went. 

When he stepped back out into the night air, Jace’s furry brows immediately rose. 

_“So that went well, then?”_ Alec scowled, waving a hand at him to beckon him closer. Jace’s lumbered closer and stopped in front of him. Alec dropped the unconscious Lorenzo onto Jace’s back with a thud, drawing a grunt from the bear. 

“Let’s just say that he has some thoughts on the validity of the charges.” 

_”Is it safe to say that we won’t be coming back here for a drink if I’m ever not a massive bear?”_ Alec huffed, wiping his palms on his dark pants before nodding slowly. 

“…That’s a fair assessment.” 

_”I leave you alone for ten minutes…”_ Jace huffed, his eyes rolling comically. 

“Look, it doesn’t matter now. Let’s just get him to the Clave and get our next bounty, okay?” Alec raised his hands, his fingers snapping as he circled them quickly and a portal materialized in front of them. 

He stepped through it with a long-suffering sigh, his hands going to roll his sleeves up to above his elbows. Behind him he heard Jace following and turned to face the line of Shadowhunters that greeted him. Alec eyed their runes with mild disgust. 

“Warlock.” The closest Shadowhunter greeted. Alec responded with a sarcastic salute and gestured to Lorenzo on Jace’s back. 

“We’ve got a present for you.” Jace leaned to one side, dropping Lorenzo gracelessly on the floor in front of them. The man who’d greeted them stepped forward and glanced at Lorenzo, confirming that he was who Alec was supposed to bring in. 

He’d been doing clandestine operations for the Clave for as long as he could remember, but he still couldn’t remember half of their names if his life depended on it. 

He really didn’t care to know the names of the people that couldn’t be bothered to acknowledge his existence. 

Being a warlock with Nephilim blood wasn’t something that was acknowledged by the Clave. That implied that there was some sort of mixing of DNA somewhere along the line and that was something that they weren’t going to take kindly to. They had no problem, however, with contracting him to do their dirty work. Alec was fine with it, though. He was incredibly good at what they had him do and they paid him well for his skill and his discretion. 

“You’ve delivered again, it seems.” The Shadowhunter’s voice was laced with barely contained hatred as it usually was. 

“You seem surprised. I’m pretty good at what I do, in case you’d forgotten.” Alec responded, his tone dull. “If we’re done with all of this ass kissing, I’ve got places to be, so…we’ll just collect our bounty and be on our way if it’s all the same to you.” 

“Of course. You’re a busy man, I’m sure.” Alec held out his hand until a leather sack was dropped into his palm. He jingled the bag full of coins briefly before tucking it into his pocket. 

“Please doing business with you all as always. Let me know when you’ve got more work for me.” He turned on his heel and was prepared to duck back through the portal when a voice stopped him. 

“Before you go,” The man (Alec was pretty sure his name was Raj…he could’ve been wrong.) started, hesitating a moment. “We’ve got another job now.” Alec sighed again and turned to face Raj (that was definitely his name.) and crossed his arms over his broad chest. 

“I’m all ears.” 

“What do you know about Magnus Bane?” Alec lifted a brow instinctively. 

“About the same thing that everyone knows. He’s powerful, sarcastic, a bit over-the-top, and self-indulgent. Why?” 

“We need him to be brought in. It’s been reported that he’s been kidnapping Shadowhunters.” 

“And we’re sure that these Shadowhunters didn’t deserve it?” Alec countered easily. 

“Don’t push your luck, Warlock. Just because you work for us does not make you any better than any other common Downworlder.” 

That flipped a switch and Alec could feel the rage boiling in his blood as his scales began to heat immediately, filling the air with the scent of his shirt beginning to scorch. His eyes glowed brilliantly, and his hands crackled with green, fiery magic flowing between his fingertips. Above his head, the normally clear sky of Alicante became dark and vicious lightning began to split the dark grey clouds in a violent electrical storm. Alec brought a hand up and wrapped a thick tendril of magic around Raj’s neck, lifting him off the ground easily. 

The other Clave members started toward him but his other hand raising toward them stopped them in their tracks. Alec pulled his upper lip back over his teeth in a mimicked snarl. 

“One more step and I snap his neck.” He growled out. His eyes barely had time to register one of the furthest members reaching for a seraph blade before Jace was on him, one massive paw shoving the Shadowhunter to the ground as he unleashed a deafening roar directly in the man’s face. 

“I think…we may have started this meeting on the wrong foot.” Raj croaked out, his hands clawing at Alec’s magic uselessly. 

“Apologize and I’ll let you down so we can finish this conversation like civil members of society.” 

“I’m…sorry.” Just as quickly as the storm had started, it was over and Alec was dropping Raj back to his feet, leaving him coughing and rubbing at his throat. 

“There. Now let’s keep this polite. Tell me where I can find Bane and I’ll tell you that I’m going to triple my fee. You’ll pretend to be outraged, but we both know that you’re going to pay it, so let’s just skip that little piece of this, hmm?” Raj nodded, his eyes widened slightly. Alec clapped his hands together cheerfully. “Great! Glad we’ve got that sorted out. Where is he?” 

“Our last intel puts him in small town in the western United States. You’ll need to extract him, alive, and bring him to us.” 

“I’m aware of how a bounty works, you know.” 

“This won’t be a normal extraction, Lightwood. There have been several attempts to bring in Bane, however he keeps seeming to disappear when he’s being portaled here. As such, you won’t be portaling in. We will have a Clave representative meeting you at the New York Institute, however you’re going to have to bring him here without the use of magic.” 

Alec stared at Raj for what seemed like endless minutes, letting the silence stretch between them until the other representatives began to shift uncomfortably. 

“Is there a problem?” Raj finally snapped, his eyes darting between Alec and Jace. 

“Oh, I was just waiting for you to say that you were kidding. You can’t actually believe that bringing Magnus Bane on a cross country journey without the use of magic is a good idea.” 

“We do. If you want to get, as you said, triple your fee than you will accomplish this mission under those guidelines.” 

“What’s to stop me from just using a portal just outside the institute?” Raj pulled a shrug and held his hands out to the side. 

“You can do whatever you’d like, Warlock, but when he doesn’t come out the other side of that portal with you, you’ll have no one to blame but yourself.” Alec raked a hand through his hair and nodded slowly. 

“Fine. We’ll walk. But I get to decide the representative that I’m meeting.” Raj gave him a ‘continue’ motion but remained silent. “Izzy.” 

“You know, it always baffles the mind how much you care for your sister. By all accounts, you should despise her for taking the lion’s share of Nephilim blood and leaving you begging for scrapes on the outskirts of the city.” He chuckled, making Alec’s hands ball into fists at his side. “She obviously isn’t as invested in this…unique little sibling bond as you are, but damn it, you try. Don’t you?” 

“Isabelle meets me in New York, or you can find Bane yourself. Which, since we’re having this conversation, you obviously can’t do this without me.” 

“She’ll be there. Send a fire message when you’re getting close to the Institute. Don’t let him get away.” Alec gave Raj a mildly offended look at the comment about his abilities, to which the man simply waved a hand dismissively. “Go now, Alicante isn’t built for sustained Downworld presence.” 

Without another word, Alec turned on his heel and stepped back through the portal, Jace hot on his heels. He slammed the portal shut as soon as they were both clear. 

_”So, that could have gone better.”_

“I don’t need the input right now, Jace. Let’s just…get this guy and get him to Izzy.” 

_”Raj may be an arrogant asshole, but he’s right you know. You always stretch yourself so thin trying to make things work with her. But she never returns the favor. She’s firmly planted in the Clave’s back pocket and didn’t try to get you in their good graces.”_

“Clave member or not, she’s my sister, Jace. I have to make sure that she’s okay.” Jace grunted in response. Alec chose to implement his selective hearing and clapped his hands together, materializing another portal in front of him. “I guess we’re headed to the Midwest. Hope you brought your boots.” He stepped through the portal before he could hear Jace’s smartass response. 

************************* 

Calling the place that Magnus was alleged to be a “town” was being generous. There were less than fifteen buildings that Alec could see, and there wasn’t a soul to be seen milling about in the streets. 

“Why is there never somewhere more glamourous that we get to go bounty hunting? It’s always tiny little towns or swamps. Maybe we’re in the wrong career.” 

_”I feel like you’re not exactly swimming in alternate options, Alec. Besides, if someone has a bounty on their head, they’re probably less than high quality people. Stands to reason that they’d be in less than high quality locations.”_

“I’m complaining, I don’t need a lesson in logic from the talking bear, thank you.” Alec scowled at Jace. He narrowed his eyes and glanced around the buildings before his eyes landed on the most run down looking one, pointing at it. “What do you want to bet that our guy is in there.” Jace nodded and flopped himself onto the ground, lowering his head onto his crossed paws. 

_”Go get ‘im, Tiger. I’ll be waiting right here for you.”_

Alec pushed the swinging doors inward and was immediately hit with the sound of an off-key piano playing in the corner of the saloon. The resulting eye roll was so dramatic that it made Alec a little dizzy. 

“Can we get more cliched?” A shot glass dropped behind the bar and every eye in the saloon turned to face him, the piano’s sudden silence deafening. “Guess I spoke too soon, hmm?” The patrons stared at him, unmoving and unanswering. “Tough crowd. I’m looking for Magnus Bane. Anyone seen him?” 

His eyes moved between all of the faces, waiting for any semblance of recognition at the name. 

“I assume that you all speak English…but, I guess I could be wrong.” He was in the process of asking the same question in Spanish when a deep laugh from the bar interrupted him. 

“Please, don’t strain yourself, darling. They understood you, they’re just not snitches.” The man swiveling on the stool was exactly what he expected from Magnus Bane. “Besides, you don’t need to use the intimidation tactic. I’m always willing to answer to handsome gentleman callers such as yourself.” 

The cream-colored blouse that he wore had ruffles up his sternum until it reached his throat, and there were matching ruffles at the cuffs of his sleeves. There were glittering rings adorning almost every one of his fingers as he wiggled them in greeting. Magnus crossed one leg over the opposite knee, stretching the fabric of his black trousers and showing off the shining buckle of his leather boots that the pants were tucked into. Alec’s eyes caught briefly on the silver pentagram hanging from one of the multiple necklaces hanging around his neck and resting on his smooth chest before they lifted to meeting glowing green-gold cat’s eyes. 

“Magnus Bane, I’m taking you into custody under order of the Clave. Come silently and I won’t have to use force. You’re wanted under suspicion of kidnapping Shadowhunters.” Magnus rolled his eyes slowly and waved a hand toward Alec. 

“Oh, come on now. You can’t honestly believe all of that. You’re a warlock. I can sense it. What on Earth are you doing working with The Clave?” Magnus moved so fluidly that Alec almost startled when he was suddenly standing in front of him. He noted absently that Magnus’ nails were painted a dark crimson when his index finger extended to lift Alec’s shirt collar. “Oh…you’re draconic. That’s unique.” 

“Didn’t anyone ever tell you that calling out someone’s warlock mark is in poor taste?” Alec snapped, his eyes glowing dimly. Magnus’ own widened slightly. 

“Draconic and Nephilim blood…what _are_ you?” 

“Annoyed.” Alec lifted a hand to wrap magic around Magnus’ wrists. And he would have, had one of the men to his left not made a lunging grab for him. Alec had just managed to duck out of the way, but he saw Magnus making a quick move toward the exit. “Nice try, Bane!” He snarled out. Before Magnus could duck out of the door, Alec slapped his hands together and when they came apart there was green arcs of fire between them. He pulled his hands apart slowly until the fire had taken the shape of a bow. He nocked an arrow made of the same fire, pulled back on the drawstring and let the arrow fly. 

The arrow buried itself into the post closest to the exit, pinning Magnus’ arm to the wood where it had gone through his shirt. Magnus gaped at him, to which Alec merely threw him a wink. 

“Don’t run off yet, you’ll miss the show.” 

He turned on his heel and faced the room full of men eyeing him like he was a bug that they were intending to crush under their boots. Alec felt a slow grin spreading across his face when his hands curled and uncurled a few times at his sides. Counting to three, he channeled all of the power the he could, leaned into the step forward that he took and fired off the green flames, effectively flattening the people around him like bowling pins. 

He held his index finger up like a gun and blew at it smugly when he turned back to find Magnus gaping at him. 

“Now. Where was I?” He pretended to think for a moment before snapping his fingers, sending a ring of magic to circle Magnus’ wrists, and pulling the arrow from the post in one smooth motion. “Ah, yes. Please come silently or I will have to use force.” 

“You’re Alexander Lightwood, aren’t you?” Magnus questioned, his eyes still wide as he began to walk out of the saloon with Alec willingly. 

“Flattery isn’t going to get you out of those cuffs, Bane.” Alec snapped, his eyes narrowed. Jace stood when they walked out of the swinging doors. This time, Magnus’ shock as focused on Jace entirely. 

“…Is that a bear?” 

“That’s Jace.” That was all the explanation that he offered. 

“Where’s your portal? I assume that we’re going to be going straight to Idris?” Magnus’ voice sounded defeated, but Alec knew better than to believe that. 

“We’re not going to be portaling. We’re going to be traveling the mundane way. Because you, apparently, cannot be trusted not to mysteriously go missing between the entrance and exit to a portal. So, you’re going to be stuck with us for a little while.” 

“Delightful. I call bunking with the bear.” 

Alec sighed and shoved Magnus forward toward the woods in the direction of New York. It was going to be a long trip to the Institute. 

He already hated this. He had to just keep reminding himself that he was getting triple his normal fee, but more importantly he had to remember that he was going to get to see Izzy at the end of this bullshit trip. 

He had to get through this to warn Isabelle of the terrible storm that was headed her way. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Come yell at me on Tumblr for posting a criminally short set-up chapter: @inquisitor-lightwood-bane

Two days into traveling with Magnus had Alec honestly considering if any bounty was worth the mental torture. Bane never shut up, he yammered on for hours about any and every nonsensical topic that sprang to his mind. 

They’d only made it to the next state and Alec had already heard more than he ever wanted to know about Magnus’ cats, his adventures through Peru and subsequent banishment from the country, and many drunken stories with Ragnor and Caterina (who Alec had gathered were Magnus’ best friends). 

“Oh my god, do you ever stop talking?” He finally snapped out when they were setting up camp for the night and Magnus was going on about some story involving a hot air balloon that Alec really did not care to hear. 

“Sometimes I’m sleeping.” Magnus retorted smoothly. Alec glared at him from where he was leaning sticks against each other for a campfire. 

“I’ve seen you sleeping. You talk. Loudly.” Magnus’ smug grin made Alec’s blood boil. 

“So, in answer to your question then, no. I don’t.” 

“Is being obnoxious one of your powers?” 

“It’s low on the list, but it’s certainly on there. Do you know what’s a really great way to not have to listen to me blathering on?” Alec raised an eyebrow and rolled his hand in a ‘go on’ gesture. “Let me go.” 

Jace snorted before Alec could, lifting his head off his paws to stare at Magnus skeptically. 

“Is this guy serious?” He questioned, his honey-colored eyes shifting to Alec briefly. 

“I don’t know. I can never tell. It’s so hard to take him seriously.” Alec shrugged, going back to building the fire. “In case it’s unclear, we’re not letting you go. Good effort, though.” 

“A man’s gotta try.” Magnus sighed, glancing down at his clothes with a grimace. “My clothes are filthy. Be a dear and change them for me? Something with some color, not that god awful black on black on off-gray color scheme that you’ve got going on, if you please.” 

“You’re not that dirty. I think you’ll live.” Alec retorted, snapping his fingers in the direction of the fire and setting the sticks ablaze. “There. That should burn for a while.” He’d made sure that he had enchanted the logs so that he was not going to have to continually throw them on the fire. 

Magnus scowled dramatically at Alec long enough to get his point across before flopping back to lean against the larger log, his feet crossing at the ankles. He was only silent for a few moments before he began humming a song that scratched at the back of Alec’s mind with familiarity that he couldn’t quite place. 

“Are you sure we can’t kill him?” Jace questioned, a low growl rumbling in his chest. 

“No. But, we could glamour you to look like him and hand you over to the Clave long enough for them to think they’ve got their man and I can break you out.” It was only a mostly sarcastic plan. 

“For once in my life, I would be alright with you handing me over to the Clave if it meant we didn’t have to keep dragging this guy through the woods.” Alec reached a hand over to run his fingers through Jace’s coarse fur in slow drags. 

“Soon enough we’ll be in New York, we’ll give him to Izzy, and we’ll be gone.” 

“Soon enough is never going to be soon enough with this guy.” He couldn’t argue with Jace’s logic. 

“I’m hungry.” Magnus groused, eyeing Alec expectantly. “I assume that the Clave wants me alive or you’d have already killed me and dragged my body through a portal. That means no letting me starve to death in the middle of nowhere.” 

Alec snapped his fingers in Magnus’ direction without looking up from where he was currently digging through his bag. A plate with crackers and cheese appeared on the other man’s lap, and Alec rolled his eyes at the sound of glee that came from Magnus. 

“Oh my, crackers and cheese, for little ol’ me? You shouldn’t have, Alexander.” 

“It’s Alec. Just eat your food and hush.” Alec snapped up a pile of fish in front of Jace and settled himself back against the log. “Why does the Clave want you so bad? Why have you been kidnapping Shadowhunters? Besides the obvious, I mean.” 

Magnus paused with a cracker halfway to his mouth. 

“I thought I was supposed to ‘eat and hush’. Hard to do that when you’re asking questions, you know.” 

“Answer the question.” 

“Well,” He set the cracker down and leaned back against the log behind him, his legs crossing at the ankles. “The Shadowhunters that I took asked for it. I didn’t kidnap them.” Alec’s eyes narrowed. 

“What the hell do you mean they asked for it?” 

“I thought the meaning was rather obvious. They came to me and asked to be taken away from where they were. They didn’t want to be under the thumb of the Clave anymore, so they needed to get out. I simply facilitated their escape.” He popped the cracker into his mouth, chewing slowly while Alec stared at him. “I can see, however, where that would make me look like the bad guy.” 

“Why didn’t you just tell them that when they came for you all the other times?” 

Magnus clapped a hand to his forehead and gave Alec an overexaggerated look of shock. 

“Why did I not think of just telling them? That’s so simple! Oh, wait. I did and they didn’t believe me.” His slitted eyes rolled. “Honestly, Alexander, for someone so renowned, you’d think that you’d be more intelligent.” 

“Okay, all you had to say was ‘I tried that’, I don’t need the excess commentary.” 

“Did you not ask them for more information when you were given the order to bring me in?” 

“I just do what I’m asked, and they pay me. I don’t get paid to ask questions, so I don’t waste my time.” Alec responded, moving to settle back against Jace’s side. Magnus was eyeing him for a long moment before he spoke. “

You don’t want to waste your time? Alexander,” Magnus scooted to sit up straighter, his ringed hands setting the plate with his food aside. “The Clave is not exactly a trustworthy organization, and you’re just taking them at their word? Dragging your own people kicking and screaming to them to be slaughtered? What kind of man does that make you?” 

“A businessman.” Alec didn’t miss a beat. 

“A businessman." Magnus repeated, disbelief evident in his tone. Alec didn't flinch. "And you sleep just fine at night knowing this?” Alec shrugged nonchalantly. 

“Everyone is just trying to get by, Magnus. You do what you’ve got to do to make ends meet. If I happen to have to drag a few warlocks to the Clave so that they don’t lock me in the bone city until it rots around me, then so be it. Jace and I are just watching out for our own skin. It’s nothing personal.” 

Magnus was on his feet before Alec had a chance to react and his fists were clenched, his wrists straining at the binds around them. His eyes were radiating fury and his teeth were bared. 

“Of course it’s personal! You’re taking me to my death! How the hell would that be anything but personal?” Alec’s breath was punched out of him when Jace surged up onto his back legs, his muscles tensing as he released a guttural roar in Magnus’ face. Saliva clung to his massive canines, the strands moving as he heaved out growling breaths, one paw raised above his head, his claws catch the light of the fire. 

“Stand down, Jace.” Alec mumbled softly as he got to his feet. He patted the coarse fur between Jace’s shoulders soothingly until the bear dropped back down onto four paws. “I’d suggest minding your tone, Bane. He doesn’t like when people disrespect me. And, I can’t say that I’m too fond of it either.” 

“Why not just kill me now? Why go through the trouble of dragging me across the country?” 

“They want you alive.” 

“Why?” 

“Does it matter? They asked me to bring you in alive, I’m going to bring you in alive.” 

"Does it matter? Of course it matters, Alec! This is my life we're talking about!" Magnus' voice was ice cold and full of venom. His shackled hands sparked as he tried to tug at the bonds to no avail. 

"And?! It's _my_ life we're talking about if I _don't_ bring you in!" He was going to continue, but his attention was drawn by the sound of a snapping branch in the thick tree line. Alec spun on his heel and his eyes slitted, scanning the forest in slow sweeps. “Something is out there.” He murmured. He didn’t need to turn to know that Jace was standing at his side, his large head hanging low to the ground. 

“Where?” Jace questioned. Magnus shuffled slightly, pressing his back further to the log behind him, his shoulders tense. Alec raised a hand and pointed toward a forked tree. 

“There.” Jace started stalking closer to the tree slowly. 

“Untie me, I can help.” Magnus hissed. Alec’s hand shot up to silence him, his eyes shooting a glare at the other man. When his gaze swung back to the tree, the crimson scales at curled over the knobs of his spine began to glow faintly as if they were lighting on fire. 

He took half a step forward when the tree shuddered and a creature that looked like a scorpion crawled forward. Two small pincers were attached to its hinged forelegs and they clicked wildly, snapping at the air. It hissed out a screech that was barely audible with its high pitch, its massive fangs dripping with acrid saliva as it did so. It began to skitter toward them in jolting, twisted movements. 

Jace let out a low roar, but the sound did nothing to deter the creature. He slammed a large paw onto the ground, making it shake under his feet. Nothing. 

Alec snapped his fingers and green light arched from his hand in a dangerous-looking ball that he hurled toward the creature. The magic engulfed the demon, ripping its armored body into pieces as it did. 

“That seemed too easy.” Jace commented when the demon gave a final shudder of the separated limbs and collapsed. 

“I don’t think that was meant to be a struggle.” Jace cocked his head, his ears flattening nervously. “I think it was meant to be a message.” 

“What message?” 

“Someone knows where we are. They know that we have Magnus. They sent some weak little, half-grown ravener to make sure that we know that they know where we are.” 

“That’s all the more reason to untie me,” Magnus interjected from behind them, his voice exasperated. “If I’m tied up, I can’t help. And if you two idiots get yourselves killed while I’m tied up, then I have no hope to defend myself.” 

“We’re not untying you. I’ll get us something for protection tonight, we’ll rest up, and then we’ll move a first light. We’re going to stay a step ahead and get you to where we need to.” 

“Stay a step ahead? Alexander, that ravener means we’re already a step behind!” Magnus groused. Alec waved him off as he conjured a deep red cloth bag into his open hand. 

“Relax. Trust me.” He waved a hand in front of him and several items appeared in front of him. Alec began loading them into the bag, ticking off the items in his mind as he went. 

_Black tourmaline. Lodestone. Morning glory. Basil._

He was in the process of putting a small, circular amulet with ancient markings and an emerald background into the bag when he noticed Magnus staring at him skeptically. 

“Is that a mojo bag?” The other man questioned, one perfectly manicured eyebrow raising toward his hairline. Alec hummed in the affirmative as he draw a dagger from the sheath on his ankle and dragged the blade over his palm. He inhaled sharply as the skin parted, then held his hand over the bag until the drops fell onto the contents of the bag. 

“Hoodoo?” Magnus questioned, his voice suddenly directly beside Alec’s ear, making him jump. He hadn’t known that the other man had gotten so close and he took the opportunity to scowl at him. He pointedly ignored how mesmerizing his slitted cat’s eyes were. “My, my. Does the Clave know that their errand boy is dabbling in blood magic like this? I’m sure that they don’t.” 

“Shut up. Go to sleep. We’re going to start moving in a couple hours.” Alec tucked the bag into his pocket and went to lean against Jace where the bear had settled back in beside the fire. 

"That sounds like a no to me." Magnus commented, his gaze flicking toward the tree line. Alec let his eyes slip closed before snapping his fingers without opening them. 

Brilliant green lines formed a large cage around Magnus, who scowled at Alec between the lines. “Just in case. Precautionary measure.” 

“Anyone ever tell you you’re an asshole, Alec Lightwood?” Magnus dropped onto his rump and shifted to curl into a tight ball on the cool ground. He shifted a few times on the pebbles and twigs that were digging into his ribs. 

“Does my father count?” 

“I suppose he does.” 

“Then on a regular basis. Go to sleep.” Alec yawned, extending his middle finger toward the other warlock as he rolled onto his side and let himself be lulled to sleep by Jace’s raucous snoring.


End file.
